Clipper Miano Movies
The acclaimed Canadian performance troupe Cirque de Soleil, which combines acrobatics, magic, music, and theater into spectacular stage productions, brings one of their most popular shows to the screen in Alegria. Frac (Rene Bazinet), a mime who is suffering from a severe bout of depression, happens to meet a troupe of circus entertainers and immediately falls in love with one of the stars, Giulietta (Julie Cox). But while his affection for Giulietta and admiration for the performers gives him a new lease on life, Giulietta's father (Frank Langella), the leader of the troupe, opposes the relationship and is determined to keep them apart. Meanwhile, Frac and Giulietta discover a gang of children who are held prisoner by a criminal leader (Heathcote Williams) who forces them to do his bidding, and they devise a plan to win the kids their freedom. While Alegria offers plenty of the theatrical dazzle that has made Cirque de Soleil famous, it has a stronger narrative structure than the original stage production and blends the talents of several noted film actors with the stars of the Cirque company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rene Bazinet, Frank Langella, (more)
Julia Ormond stars as Copenhagen resident Smilla Jasperson, a reclusive, half-Inuit scientist who befriends a neglected Inuit boy who lives in her building. Arriving home from work one day, Smilla is mortified to learn that the boy has died in a fall from the building's roof. Suspicious because she knows that her young friend was afraid of heights, Smilla probes into the "accident." Her only ally is an enigmatic man known as the Mechanic (Gabriel Byrne), who also lives in the building and seems sympathetic. Smilla discovers that the boy's family is connected to a mining company conducting top-secret research in her ancestral home of Greenland. Then she spies the Mechanic and the company's president (Richard Harris) dining together. Is she a paranoid conspiracy theorist or a sleuth uncovering a bizarre murder mystery? When a retired secretary (Vanessa Redgrave) helps her make a critical discovery, Smilla sets off for Greenland, where the otherworldly, prehistoric answer to her questions awaits. Danish director Bille August's previous film Pelle the Conqueror (1987) also concerned the bond between an adult Denmark émigré and a child. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
